Jamie Mackie scores last-gasp winner as QPR sink Liverpool

Wednesday 21 March 2012 18.04 EDT
First published on Wednesday 21 March 2012 18.04 EDT

This was the sort of feat that fuels successful relegation fights. Queen Park Rangers were deservedly two goals down with time ticking away yet stormed back to plunder their first win in two months. It was a display of unquenchable spirit above all else and propelled Mark Hughes's team out of the bottom three. Liverpool, by contrast, surrendered any lingering hopes of finishing in the Champions League places with a curiously meek collapse. José Enrique's inexplicable tumble that allowed Jamie Mackie in for the stoppage-time winning goal summed up the visitors' haplessness in the last quarter of a contest that they had mostly dominated.

This was the first labour of QPR's Herculean 10-task run-in, with clashes against the top four among those looming after the duel with Kenny Dalglish's team. Hughes was able to field his strongest line-up as he sought to arrest a six-match winless streak, with his new signing Samba Diakité returning to the team after serving the suspension he incurred for getting sent off in his debut against Fulham last month. That was just one of a litany of blunders that helped account for QPR's lowly position in the table.

It initially look like more errors would undo Rangers here, as in the second minute Joey Barton wasted a promising attacking free-kick for the home side and enabled Jay Spearing to launch an immediate counter-offensive. A slip by Nedum Onuaha helped clear Luis Suárez's path to goal but Liverpool fans were again left to lament the striker's shabby finishing skills as he shot straight at Paddy Kenny, who got up quickly to smother the rebound.

Liverpool did not begin like a side who believed a top-four finish was beyond them and continued to apply fierce pressure. Martin Skrtel went close with a header from a corner in the seventh minute and two minutes later another corner led to Anton Ferdinand having to scoop a Dirk Kuyt shot off the line. QPR were like rabbits' in the visitors' headlights.

Not until the 15th minute did they muster a shot, and that was a token long-range effort by Djibril Cissé that rolled wide. To their credit, however, QPR gradually got to grips with the triumvirate of Steven Gerrard, Charlie Adam and Spearing in central midfield. The visitors found it increasingly hard to open the hosts up and QPR began to exert pressure of their own. They almost took the lead in freakish fashion on the half-hour, when Enrique perpetrated his starting mistake of the evening and nearly walloped an Armand Traoré cross into his own goal. It whizzed just wide, as did a thunderous 25-yard drive from Cissé two minutes later.

Liverpool had to rejig their defence when Martin Kelly departed injured, Jamie Carragher switching to right-back to accommodate the substitute Sebastián Coátes in the centre. Liverpool's response to Rangers' relative resurgence was strangely passive, as they retreated deep and incited more pressure. They finished the first period entrenched in their own box.

Dalglish sought to reintroduce some dynamism to his midfield by replacing Adam with Jordan Henderson at half-time and he also pushed Kuyt closer to Suárez up front. Liverpool were soon in the ascendancy again and QPR had to defend frantically. They did so successfully until the 54th minute, when Coátes showed that there was at least one Uruguayan on the pitch who could finish emphatically: after Bobby Zamora cleared a Stewart Downing shot off the line, the ball rebounded to the centre-half who returned it into the net with an acrobatic volley from 16 yards.

"That was a once-in-the-lifetime strike from a 6ft4 centre-back," marvelled Hughes. While that technique was immaculate , some of QPR biggest names were offering little. Adel Taarabt did not unfurl his tricks until late on and Joey Barton's display was so inconsequential that he was jeered off when being replaced by Jamie Mackie on 62 minutes.

Downing would have doubled Liverpool's lead in the 71st minute if not for a fine save by Kenny but one minute later the goalkeeper's best efforts were not enough. Suárez conjured space on the left of the box and his cross-shot bounced off the post and out to Downing, who sidestepped two defenders before firing a shot that Kenny beat into the path of Kuyt, who poked the ball in from five yards.

Then began a QPR fightback that both Hughes and Dalglish admitted they did not see coming. Shaun Derry landed the first blow with a fine header from a Taarabt corner in the 77th minute before Cissé met a splendid Taye Taiwo delivery from the left with an equally fine header to draw the teams level in the 84th. Now Liverpool were reeling and they could not even hold out for a point, Enrique's slip presenting Mackie with the chance to fire into the net from 10 yards and ignite wild celebrations among home fans who suddenly believe they may be watching Premier League matches again next season.